British Diplomat Reports Shoe Theft in Mumbai, Highlights Housing Society Violations

Mumbai: A case of shoe theft was reported by a British diplomat at Bandra police station on September 27. The complaint was filed by David Matthew, who lost a new pair of sports shoes he had bought for his son, only to discover that they had been stolen from outside his residence.

According to the FIR, David Matthew (51), a British diplomat, has been residing at Boni Casa building on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Road near HSBC bank in Bandra West with his wife and son for the past year. On August 31, he purchased a pair of Adidas Astorrun shoes worth Rs. 5,999 for his son Alex from Jio World Mall. David paid the bill using his Revolut Bank Debit card. Alex had worn the shoes just once and placed them on the shoe rack outside their residence.

On September 26, at 3 pm, Alex needed to go out, so he went to the shoe rack to put on his shoes, only to discover that they were missing. Both David and his son searched extensively for the shoes but were unable to locate them. Finally, David decided to file a police report about the incident.

Case registered against unidentified individual

A case has been registered against an unidentified individual under section 379 (theft) at Bandra police station. According to senior advocate Vinod Sampat, an expert in matters pertaining to cooperative housing societies, “Many residents have their shoe racks in the common space outside their apartments. This is illegal because the common area belongs to the cooperative housing society and not to individual members. In fact, the diplomat concerned violated the law by keeping a shoe rack outside his flat,” he added.

In the past, the fire brigade had also objected to shoe racks in passages since they hinder the free movement of their personnel in the event of a fire.